Some
call me a party girl. People see me as happy, full of life, with absolutely no
cares in the world. They see what I want them to see. But no one knows me -
really knows me. Not even Noah Reese.Mr. Perfect is always watching me, most likely judging every single
imperfect thing I do. But, if Noah wants to keep an eye on me, that’s just
fine. I definitely don’t mind. I just hope he doesn’t have any plans to save me
from my new-found life of self-destruction because in order to save me, he will
have to see me…

And
I’m never going to let that happen.

Noah Reese:

Perfect.
That’s me. That’s the only acceptable way to be, according to my father.
Perfect grades. Perfect manners. Perfect athlete. Perfect SAT scores. Perfect
college. And recently, I was accepted into the perfect med school. My future
has already been mapped out for me and there’s nothing that can change that.
Not even Tatum O’Connell. That girl is out of control, yet for some reason, I
can’t seem to keep my distance from her. I watch her closely, hoping that one
day she’ll let me in, but watching her lead her life down the dangerous path
she’s on right now isn’t easy…

I
have a feeling I’m about to find myself swept away by the hurricane that is
Tatum O’Connell.

“Two
fleeting souls,

Unknowingly
tethered.

Too
slowly drawn,

Impatient
fate calls.

The jolting
collide intertwines their lives

And splinters their walls.”

“Catalyst” – Noah Reese

Author Bio:

L.B. Simmons is a graduate of
Texas A&M University and holds a degree in Biomedical Science. She has been
a practicing Chemist for the last 11 years. She lives with her husband and
three daughters in Texas and writes every chance she gets.

Still
laughing and not paying attention, I round the corner, only to run straight into
a completely different kind of
trouble.A brown-headed, blue-eyed,
whirlwind kind of trouble.A trouble
that looks unbelievably hot in a tight-ass, short black dress.A trouble wearing the highest black heels
I’ve ever seen, heels that make her legs look unbelievable and should be
outlawed judging by the bulge forming inside my dark Diesels. Damn. She’s also a trouble that I’ve
formed a decent friendship with over the last few weeks, so any mental images I
have of her doing certain things to me wearing those heels have got to go.

“Hey!”
she says laughing as she flips her hair off her shoulders.My eyes immediately land on her pouty lips,
the clear shine reflecting off of them as she smiles. “What are you doing
here?”

She
looks me up and down as she nods her head. “Me too,” she says clearing her own
throat.“Where are you going, looking
all spiffy?”

I
chuckle because only she would say spiffy.“I’m taking Piper to that new club, Parallel.
Where are you going looking all
spiffy?”

She
claps her hands together excitedly before taking my hand.“We’re going there too!Yay!”

I’m
still surprised every time she touches me.It’s such a drastic change from the first day at the duplexes.As I think about the last month or so - all
the times that we laughed together at something ridiculous that she said, or
the fact that she insists on bumping hips with me every single time a song
comes on the radio that she likes while singing at the top of her lungs, even
the times she lightly brushes her hand across my arm while she’s speaking –
there’s a level of comfort and ease about our friendship. Reason five hundred
why I need to curb my inappropriate thoughts about this one.

I
smile to myself as she tugs me harder.“Where are you taking me?”

“To
the employee bathroom!”

Well,
that did absolutely nothing to fend off dirty thoughts.

“Why?”

She
giggles. Obviously, she’s already started drinking.Great.Well,
at least we’ll be at the same place so I can make sure Dickhead the Douchebag
takes care of her.

“Because,
I’m gonna fix your hair.It looks
too…perfect.It needs to be messy –
sexy, like you.” She stops dead in her tracks. “Um…I mean, as sexy as you look
now.” She exhales, frustrated. “Sexily
dressed, that’s what I mean.” She bites her bottom lip nervously as she
mentally tries to hook her words and reel them back in.I just laugh because she looks so damn cute.

“So,
you think I’m sexy?”

Saying
nothing else, she rolls her eyes and pulls me in the direction of the
bathroom.Once we arrive, she flips on
the light and points at the toilet for me to take a seat. Turning on the
faucet, she sets her purse on the counter and pulls out a travel size
hairspray.After digging around for a
little while longer, she turns towards me.

“Well,
I guess this will have to do.” She tilts her head to the left and then
scrunches her mouth to the same side, deep in thought. Nodding to herself, she
leans over and wets her fingers in the sink before stepping in between my
legs.

She
breathes in deeply before placing her fingers in my hair.Slowly, she distributes the water throughout,
often leaning back to the faucet to get more.Her cool hands work from the sides of my head toward the top, where her
fingers interlace to form a spiky section down the center. Then she bends at
the waist, placing her face so close to mine, her breaths hit my mouth.I know I can’t have her, but damn if I don’t
want to take some piece of her with me. So greedily, I take in her air with
every breath she releases. Her eyes still focused on my hair, I watch her
mouth. Still breathing with her, I lick my lips, the movement distracting her
so that she brings her blue eyes to mine. In silence, we stare, only the shared
breaths between us are heard.

Taking
her hand out of my hair, she places it on the side of my face and gently
strokes my cheek with her thumb as we hold each other’s eyes.Before long, I watch a soft saddened
half-smile appear on her lips.“Much
better,” she says with one last soothing run of her thumb before she backs
away.Reaching for the hair spray, she
tweaks the top of my hair, pulling random pieces in different directions before
spraying them.I fight the urge to put
my hands around her waist and pull her into me.To hold her. To have her.

Instead,
I sit with my hands on my knees, wanting what I can’t have.

After
a couple of more sprays, she steps back.“All done. You’re good to go. To the bar. With Piper,” she says, the
pitch of her voice getting higher with each incomplete sentence spoken.There’s no mistaking the heartache radiating
between the both of us.It’s so thick I
could slice it with a knife.

Giveaway:

To celebrate the cover of her newest novel, Running in Place, L.B. is offering her
readers an awesome Giveaway!

·Winner 1: $100 Amazon gift card

·Winner 2: A set of signed paperbacks
of Running on Empty
and Recovery.

·Winner 3: ARC of Running in Place, to be sent to the winner in mid October.